Signaling for slot aggregation

ABSTRACT

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for slot aggregation in new radio (NR) systems. A method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling providing a semi-static configuration for transmission and/or reception of a repeated transport block (TB) and/or a different TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots. The UE transmits or receives the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on the semi-static configuration. Another method is provided in which the UE transmits and/or receives a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in each of a plurality of aggregated slots, each DMRS associated with a repeated TB or a different TB in the slot. The UE determines, based on received signaling, whether the DMRS use a same precoder or a different precoder and modulates and/or demodulates the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on the determination.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION & PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/621,555, filed Jan. 24, 2018, hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth belowand for all applicable purposes.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, andmore particularly, to techniques signaling of slot aggregation incertain systems, such as in new radio (NR) systems.

Description of Related Art

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,broadcasts, etc. These wireless communication systems may employmultiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth,transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems include3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE)systems, LTE Advanced (LTE-A) systems, code division multiple access(CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous codedivision multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, to name a few.

In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication system mayinclude a number of base stations (BSs), which are each capable ofsimultaneously supporting communication for multiple communicationdevices, otherwise known as user equipments (UEs). In an LTE or LTE-Anetwork, a set of one or more base stations may define an eNodeB (eNB).In other examples (e.g., in a next generation, a new radio (NR), or 5Gnetwork), a wireless multiple access communication system may include anumber of distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes(ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmissionreception points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with a number of centralunits (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs),etc.), where a set of one or more DUs, in communication with a CU, maydefine an access node (e.g., which may be referred to as a BS, 5G NB,next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), transmission reception point(TRP), etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a set of UEs on downlinkchannels (e.g., for transmissions from a BS or DU to a UE) and uplinkchannels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to BS or DU).

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. NR (e.g., new radio or 5G) is anexample of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is a set ofenhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. NR isdesigned to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improvingspectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use ofnew spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards usingOFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and on the uplink(UL). To these ends, NR supports beamforming, multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues toincrease, there exists a need for further improvements in NR and LTEtechnology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to othermulti-access technologies and the telecommunication standards thatemploy these technologies.

SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressedby the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly.After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading thesection entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how thefeatures of this disclosure provide advantages that include improvedcommunications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to methodsand apparatus for signaling of slot aggregation in certain systems, suchas new radio (NR) systems.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunication that may be performed, for example, by a user equipment(UE). The method generally includes receiving radio resource control(RRC) signaling providing the UE with a semi-static configuration fortransmission or reception of a repeated transport block (TB) and/or adifferent TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots. The methodincludes transmitting or receiving the TBs in the plurality ofaggregated slots based on the semi-static configuration.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication such as a UE. The apparatus generally includesmeans for receiving RRC signaling providing the apparatus with asemi-static configuration for transmission or reception of a repeated TBand/or a different TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots. Theapparatus includes means for transmitting or receiving the TBs in theplurality of aggregated slots based on the semi-static configuration.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication such as a UE. The apparatus generally includes areceiver configured to receive RRC signaling providing the apparatuswith a semi-static configuration for transmission or reception of arepeated TB and/or a different TB in each of a plurality of aggregatedslots. The apparatus includes a transceiver configured to transmit orreceive the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on thesemi-static configuration.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon for wirelesscommunication by a UE. The computer executable code generally includescode for receiving RRC signaling providing the UE with a semi-staticconfiguration for transmission or reception of a repeated TB and/or adifferent TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots. The computerexecutable code includes code for transmitting or receiving the TBs inthe plurality of aggregated slots based on the semi-staticconfiguration.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide another method forwireless communication that may be performed, for example, by a UE. Themethod generally includes receiving a demodulation reference signal(DMRS) in each of a plurality of aggregated slots. Each DMRS isassociated with a repeated TB or a different TB in the slot. The methodincludes determining, based on received signaling, whether the DMRS usea same precoder or a different precoder. The method includesdemodulating the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on thedetermination.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication such as a UE. The apparatus generally includesmeans for receiving a DMRS in each of a plurality of aggregated slots.Each DMRS is associated with a repeated TB or a different TB in theslot. The apparatus includes means for determining, based on receivedsignaling, whether the DMRS use a same precoder or a different precoder.The apparatus includes means for demodulating the TBs in the pluralityof aggregated slots based on the determination.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication such as a UE. The apparatus generally includes areceiver configured to receive a DMRS in each of a plurality ofaggregated slots. Each DMRS is associated with a repeated TB or adifferent TB in the slot. The apparatus includes at least one processorcoupled with a memory and configured to determine, based on receivedsignaling, whether the DMRS use a same precoder or a different precoder.The at least one processor is configured to demodulate the TBs in theplurality of aggregated slots based on the determination.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon for wirelesscommunication by a UE. The computer executable code generally includescode for receiving a DMRS in each of a plurality of aggregated slots.Each DMRS is associated with a repeated TB or a different TB in theslot. The computer executable code includes code for determining, basedon received signaling, whether the DMRS use a same precoder or adifferent precoder. The computer executable code includes code fordemodulating the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on thedetermination.

Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer readablemediums, and processing systems, as substantially described herein withreference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, andincluding for operations by a base station (BS) that may becomplementary to the operations by the UE.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe appended drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the drawings. It is to be noted, however, thatthe appended drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of thisdisclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope,for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exampletelecommunications system, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example logical architectureof a distributed radio access network (RAN), in accordance with certainaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example physical architecture of adistributed RAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of anexample base station (BS) and user equipment (UE), in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing examples for implementing a communicationprotocol stack, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a frame format for a new radio (NR)system, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a type of slot aggregation, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating another type of slot aggregation,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating another type of slot aggregation,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations that may beperformed by a UE for receiving signaling for slot aggregation, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10A is a flow diagram illustrating example operations by the UE foruplink slot aggregation, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10B is a flow diagram illustrating example operations by the UE fordownlink slot aggregation, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations that may beperformed by a UE for receiving signaling for demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) phase continuity and DMRS demodulation, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations that may beperformed by a UE for receiving signaling for DMR) phase continuity andDMRS modulation, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations that may beperformed by a BS to signal slot aggregation, in accordance with certainaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations that may beperformed by a BS to signal DMRS phase continuity and DMRS modulation,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations that may beperformed by a BS to signal DMRS phase continuity and DMRS demodulation,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a table of UE processing times and hybrid automatic repeatedrequest (HARQ) timing, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 17 is a table of aggressive UE processing times and HARQ timing, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates a communications device that may include variouscomponents configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosedherein in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 illustrates a communications device that may include variouscomponents configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosedherein in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspectmay be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specificrecitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processingsystems, and computer readable mediums for NR (new radio accesstechnology or 5G technology). In certain systems, such as NR, slotaggregation may be supported. The aggregated slots may include uplinkand/or downlink slots. The aggregated slots may include consecutiveslots in which transport blocks (TBs) are transmitted and/or received.The TBs may be repetitions (e.g., associated with a same hybridautomatic repeat request (HARQ) process) or different (e.g., associatedwith different HARQ processes). Precoded demodulation reference signals(DMRS) may be transmitted and/or received in the uplink and/or downlinkslots with the TBs.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus forsignaling slot aggregation. For example, techniques are provided forconfiguring/signaling the aggregated slots, such as whether TBstransmitted in the slots are repetitions or different TBs, whether DRMSin the slots are phase continuous, and/or parameters associated with theaggregated slots such as modulation coding scheme (MCS), redundancyversion (RV), resource allocation (RA), new data indicator (NDI),acknowledgment resource indicator (ARI), etc. Aspects provide radioresource control (RRC) signaling to semi-statically configure a userequipment (UE) with the slots aggregation configuration and/or downlinkcontrol information (DCI) to dynamically configure or reconfigure theslot aggregation.

The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of thescope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit,substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. Forinstance, the methods described may be performed in an order differentfrom that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, orcombined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may becombined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may beimplemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspectsset forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intendedto cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to,or other than, the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein.It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosedherein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim. The word“exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, orillustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication technologies, such as LTE, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA,SC-FDMA and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are oftenused interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technologysuch as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRAincludes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implementa radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR(e.g. 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRAand E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).

New Radio (NR) is an emerging wireless communications technology underdevelopment in conjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). 3GPPLong Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTSthat use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from anorganization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Thetechniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networksand radio technologies. For clarity, while aspects may be describedherein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wirelesstechnologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in othergeneration-based communication systems, such as 5G and later, includingNR technologies.

Example Wireless Communications System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network 100 inwhich aspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example,the wireless communication network 100 may be a New Radio (NR) or 5Gnetwork. A UE 120 in the wireless communication network 100 can receiveradio resource control (RRC) signaling from a BS 110 in the wirelesscommunication network 100. The RRC signaling may semi-staticallyconfigure the UE 120 for slot aggregation. For example, the UE 120 maybe configured to transmit and/or receive transport blocks (TBs) in theaggregated slots. The TBs may be repetitions or different TBs. The UE120 may then transmit or receive the TBs in accordance with the RRCconfiguration. The UE 120 may also determine, for example based onfurther RRC signaling from the BS 110, whether the demodulationreference signal (DMRS) in aggregated slots are phase continuous. The UE120 can then demodulate TBs received in the downlink aggregated slots,and/or modulate TBs transmitted in the uplink aggregated slots, based onthe determination.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wireless communication network 100 mayinclude a number of base stations (BSs) 110 and other network entities.A BS may be a station that communicates with user equipments (UEs). EachBS 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographicarea. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a Node B(NB) and/or a NB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on thecontext in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term “cell” andnext generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP),or transmission reception point (TRP) may be interchangeable. In someexamples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographicarea of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile BS. Insome examples, the base stations may be interconnected to one anotherand/or to one or more other base stations or network nodes (not shown)in wireless communication network 100 through various types of backhaulinterfaces, such as a direct physical connection, a wireless connection,a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a givengeographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radioaccess technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. ARAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface,etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a subcarrier, afrequency channel, a tone, a subband, etc. Each frequency may support asingle RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interferencebetween wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RATnetworks may be deployed.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, afemto cell, and/or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover arelatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius)and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. Apico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell maycover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allowrestricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell(e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in thehome, etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. ABS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femtocell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shownin FIG. 1, the BSs 110 a, 110 b and 110 c may be macro BSs for the macrocells 102 a, 102 b and 102 c, respectively. The BS 110 x may be a picoBS for a pico cell 102 x. The BSs 110 y and 110 z may be femto BSs forthe femto cells 102 y and 102 z, respectively. A BS may support one ormultiple (e.g., three) cells.

Wireless communication network 100 may also include relay stations. Arelay station is a station that receives a transmission of data and/orother information from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) andsends a transmission of the data and/or other information to adownstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be aUE that relays transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIG.1, a relay station 110 r may communicate with the BS 110 a and a UE 120r in order to facilitate communication between the BS 110 a and the UE120 r. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay,etc.

Wireless communication network 100 may be a heterogeneous network thatincludes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BS, pico BS, femto BS,relays, etc. These different types of BSs may have different transmitpower levels, different coverage areas, and different impact oninterference in the wireless communication network 100. For example,macro BS may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereaspico BS, femto BS, and relays may have a lower transmit power level(e.g., 1 Watt).

Wireless communication network 100 may support synchronous orasynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may havesimilar frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may beapproximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs mayhave different frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs maynot be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used forboth synchronous and asynchronous operation.

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and providecoordination and control for these BSs. The network controller 130 maycommunicate with the BSs 110 via a backhaul. The BSs 110 may alsocommunicate with one another (e.g., directly or indirectly) via wirelessor wireline backhaul.

The UEs 120 (e.g., 120 x, 120 y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout thewireless communication network 100, and each UE may be stationary ormobile. A UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, anaccess terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer PremisesEquipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, ahandheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, anetbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, an appliance, a medical device ormedical equipment, a biometric sensor/device, a wearable device such asa smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smartjewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainmentdevice (e.g., a music device, a video device, a satellite radio, etc.),a vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrialmanufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or anyother suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wirelessor wired medium. Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication(MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include,for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors,location tags, etc., that may communicate with a BS, another device(e.g., remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node mayprovide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a widearea network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired orwireless communication link. Some UEs may be consideredInternet-of-Things (IoT) devices, which may be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)devices.

Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrierfrequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDMpartition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers,which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent inthe frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. Thespacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total numberof subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. Forexample, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kHz and the minimumresource allocation (called a “resource block” (RB)) may be 12subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal Fast FourierTransfer (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024 or 2048 forsystem bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz),respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned intosubbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resourceblocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for systembandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz, respectively.

While aspects of the examples described herein may be associated withLTE technologies, aspects of the present disclosure may be applicablewith other wireless communications systems, such as NR. NR may utilizeOFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and include support forhalf-duplex operation using TDD. Beamforming may be supported and beamdirection may be dynamically configured. MIMO transmissions withprecoding may also be supported. MIMO configurations in the DL maysupport up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions upto 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer transmissions withup to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cellsmay be supported with up to 8 serving cells.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled. Ascheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communicationamong some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell.The scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning,reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinateentities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entitiesutilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. Base stations arenot the only entities that may function as a scheduling entity. In someexamples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity and may scheduleresources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more otherUEs), and the other UEs may utilize the resources scheduled by the UEfor wireless communication. In some examples, a UE may function as ascheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a meshnetwork. In a mesh network example, UEs may communicate directly withone another in addition to communicating with a scheduling entity.

In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desiredtransmissions between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS designated toserve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A finely dashed line withdouble arrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and a BS.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example logical architecture of a distributedRadio Access Network (RAN) 200, which may be implemented in the wirelesscommunication network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. A 5G access node 206may include an access node controller (ANC) 202. ANC 202 may be acentral unit (CU) of the distributed RAN 200. The backhaul interface tothe Next Generation Core Network (NG-CN) 204 may terminate at ANC 202.The backhaul interface to neighboring next generation access Nodes(NG-ANs) 210 may terminate at ANC 202. ANC 202 may include one or moreTRPs 208 (e.g., cells, BSs, gNBs, etc.).

The TRPs 208 may be a distributed unit (DU). TRPs 208 may be connectedto a single ANC (e.g., ANC 202) or more than one ANC (not illustrated).For example, for RAN sharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and servicespecific AND deployments, TRPs 208 may be connected to more than oneANC. TRPs 208 may each include one or more antenna ports. TRPs 208 maybe configured to individually (e.g., dynamic selection) or jointly(e.g., joint transmission) serve traffic to a UE.

The logical architecture of distributed RAN 200 may support fronthaulingsolutions across different deployment types. For example, the logicalarchitecture may be based on transmit network capabilities (e.g.,bandwidth, latency, and/or jitter).

The logical architecture of distributed RAN 200 may share featuresand/or components with LTE. For example, next generation access node(NG-AN) 210 may support dual connectivity with NR and may share a commonfronthaul for LTE and NR.

The logical architecture of distributed RAN 200 may enable cooperationbetween and among TRPs 208, for example, within a TRP and/or across TRPsvia ANC 202. An inter-TRP interface may not be used.

Logical functions may be dynamically distributed in the logicalarchitecture of distributed RAN 200. As will be described in more detailwith reference to FIG. 5, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, PacketData Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer,Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layers may beadaptably placed at the DU (e.g., TRP 208) or CU (e.g., ANC 202).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example physical architecture of a distributed RAN300, according to aspects of the present disclosure. A centralized corenetwork unit (C-CU) 302 may host core network functions. C-CU 302 may becentrally deployed. C-CU 302 functionality may be offloaded (e.g., toadvanced wireless services (AWS)), in an effort to handle peak capacity.

A centralized RAN unit (C-RU) 304 may host one or more ANC functions.Optionally, the C-RU 304 may host core network functions locally. TheC-RU 304 may have distributed deployment. The C-RU 304 may be close tothe network edge.

A DU 306 may host one or more TRPs (Edge Node (EN), an Edge Unit (EU), aRadio Head (RH), a Smart Radio Head (SRH), or the like). The DU may belocated at edges of the network with radio frequency (RF) functionality.

FIG. 4 illustrates example components of BS 110 and UE 120 (as depictedin FIG. 1), which may be used to implement aspects of the presentdisclosure. For example, antennas 452, processors 466, 458, 464, and/orcontroller/processor 480 of the UE 120 and/or antennas 434, processors420, 430, 438, and/or controller/processor 440 of the BS 110 may be usedto perform the various techniques and methods described herein andillustrated with reference to FIGS. 10-13.

At the BS 110, a transmit processor 420 may receive data from a datasource 412 and control information from a controller/processor 440. Thecontrol information may be for the physical broadcast channel (PBCH),physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid ARQindicator channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH),group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the physicaldownlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor 420 may process(e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtaindata symbols and control symbols, respectively. The processor 420 mayalso generate reference symbols, e.g., for the primary synchronizationsignal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specificreference signal (CRS). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) processor 430 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) onthe data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, ifapplicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators(MODs) 432 a through 432 t. Each modulator 432 may process a respectiveoutput symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output samplestream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog,amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain adownlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 432 a through 432 tmay be transmitted via the antennas 434 a through 434 t, respectively.

At the UE 120, the antennas 452 a through 452 r may receive the downlinksignals from the base station 110 and may provide received signals tothe demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 454 a through 454 r,respectively. Each demodulator 454 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify,downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain inputsamples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples (e.g.,for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 456 mayobtain received symbols from all the demodulators 454 a through 454 r,perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, andprovide detected symbols. A receive processor 458 may process (e.g.,demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, providedecoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 460, and provide decodedcontrol information to a controller/processor 480.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 464 may receive andprocess data (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) froma data source 462 and control information (e.g., for the physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH) from the controller/processor 480. The transmitprocessor 464 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal(e.g., for the sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from thetransmit processor 464 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 466 ifapplicable, further processed by the demodulators in transceivers 454 athrough 454 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the basestation 110. At the BS 110, the uplink signals from the UE 120 may bereceived by the antennas 434, processed by the modulators 432, detectedby a MIMO detector 436 if applicable, and further processed by a receiveprocessor 438 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by theUE 120. The receive processor 438 may provide the decoded data to a datasink 439 and the decoded control information to the controller/processor440.

The controllers/processors 440 and 480 may direct the operation at theBS 110 and the UE 120, respectively. The processor 440 and/or otherprocessors and modules at the BS 110 may perform or direct the executionof processes for the techniques described herein. The memories 442 and482 may store data and program codes for BS 110 and UE 120,respectively. A scheduler 444 may schedule UEs for data transmission onthe downlink and/or uplink.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram 500 showing examples for implementing acommunications protocol stack, according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. The illustrated communications protocol stacks may beimplemented by devices operating in a wireless communication system,such as a 5G system (e.g., a system that supports uplink-basedmobility). Diagram 500 illustrates a communications protocol stackincluding a RRC layer 510, a PDCP layer 515, a RLC layer 520, a MAClayer 525, and a PHY layer 530. In various examples, the layers of aprotocol stack may be implemented as separate modules of software,portions of a processor or ASIC, portions of non-collocated devicesconnected by a communications link, or various combinations thereof.Collocated and non-collocated implementations may be used, for example,in a protocol stack for a network access device (e.g., ANs, CUs, and/orDUs) or a UE.

A first option 505-a shows a split implementation of a protocol stack,in which implementation of the protocol stack is split between acentralized network access device (e.g., an ANC 202 in FIG. 2) anddistributed network access device (e.g., DU 208 in FIG. 2). In the firstoption 505-a, an RRC layer 510 and a PDCP layer 515 may be implementedby the central unit, and an RLC layer 520, a MAC layer 525, and a PHYlayer 530 may be implemented by the DU. In various examples the CU andthe DU may be collocated or non-collocated. The first option 505-a maybe useful in a macro cell, micro cell, or pico cell deployment.

A second option 505-b shows a unified implementation of a protocolstack, in which the protocol stack is implemented in a single networkaccess device. In the second option, RRC layer 510, PDCP layer 515, RLClayer 520, MAC layer 525, and PHY layer 530 may each be implemented bythe AN. The second option 505-b may be useful in, for example, a femtocell deployment.

Regardless of whether a network access device implements part or all ofa protocol stack, a UE may implement an entire protocol stack as shownin 505-c (e.g., the RRC layer 510, the PDCP layer 515, the RLC layer520, the MAC layer 525, and the PHY layer 530).

FIG. In LTE, the basic transmission time interval (TTI) or packetduration is the 1 ms subframe. In NR, a subframe is still 1 ms, but thebasic TTI is referred to as a slot. A subframe contains a variablenumber of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, . . . slots) depending on thesubcarrier spacing. The NR RB is 12 consecutive frequency subcarriers.NR may support a base subcarrier spacing of 15 KHz and other subcarrierspacing may be defined with respect to the base subcarrier spacing, forexample, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc. The symbol and slotlengths scale with the subcarrier spacing. The CP length also depends onthe subcarrier spacing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a frame format 600 for NR. Thetransmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink may bepartitioned into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have apredetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and may be partitioned into 10subframes, each of 1 ms, with indices of 0 through 9. Each subframe mayinclude a variable number of slots depending on the subcarrier spacing.Each slot may include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14symbols) depending on the subcarrier spacing. The symbol periods in eachslot may be assigned indices. A mini-slot, which may be referred to as asub-slot structure, refers to a transmit time interval having a durationless than a slot (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols).

Each symbol in a slot may indicate a link direction (e.g., DL, UL, orflexible) for data transmission and the link direction for each subframemay be dynamically switched. The link directions may be based on theslot format. Each slot may include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL controlinformation.

In NR, a synchronization signal (SS) block is transmitted. The SS blockincludes a PSS, a SSS, and a two symbol PBCH. The SS block can betransmitted in a fixed slot location, such as the symbols 0-3 as shownin FIG. 6. The PSS and SSS may be used by UEs for cell search andacquisition. The PSS may provide half-frame timing, the SS may providethe CP length and frame timing. The PSS and SSS may provide the cellidentity. The PBCH carries some basic system information, such asdownlink system bandwidth, timing information within radio frame, SSburst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. The SS blocks may beorganized into SS bursts to support beam sweeping. Further systeminformation such as, remaining minimum system information (RMSI), systeminformation blocks (SIBs), other system information (OSI) can betransmitted on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certainsubframes. The SS block can be transmitted up to sixty-four times, forexample, with up to sixty-four different beam directions for mmW. The upto sixty-four transmissions of the SS block are referred to as the SSburst set. SS blocks in an SS burst set are transmitted in the samefrequency region, while SS blocks in different SS bursts sets can betransmitted at different frequency locations.

In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) maycommunicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-worldapplications of such sidelink communications may include public safety,proximity services, UE-to-network relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoTcommunications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various other suitableapplications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signalcommunicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to anothersubordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying that communicationthrough the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though thescheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or controlpurposes. In some examples, the sidelink signals may be communicatedusing a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, whichtypically use an unlicensed spectrum).

A UE may operate in various radio resource configurations, including aconfiguration associated with transmitting pilots using a dedicated setof resources (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) dedicated state,etc.) or a configuration associated with transmitting pilots using acommon set of resources (e.g., an RRC common state, etc.). Whenoperating in the RRC dedicated state, the UE may select a dedicated setof resources for transmitting a pilot signal to a network. Whenoperating in the RRC common state, the UE may select a common set ofresources for transmitting a pilot signal to the network. In eithercase, a pilot signal transmitted by the UE may be received by one ormore network access devices, such as an AN, or a DU, or portionsthereof. Each receiving network access device may be configured toreceive and measure pilot signals transmitted on the common set ofresources, and also receive and measure pilot signals transmitted ondedicated sets of resources allocated to the UEs for which the networkaccess device is a member of a monitoring set of network access devicesfor the UE. One or more of the receiving network access devices, or a CUto which receiving network access device(s) transmit the measurements ofthe pilot signals, may use the measurements to identify serving cellsfor the UEs, or to initiate a change of serving cell for one or more ofthe UEs.

Example Signaling for Slot Aggregation

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processingsystems, and computer readable mediums for slot aggregation signalingthat may be used in new radio systems (e.g., 5G NR systems). NR maysupport slot aggregation. Slot aggregation may refer to a case ofassignments for multiple consecutive slots. The aggregated slots mayinclude uplink and/or downlink slots. The aggregated slots may includeconsecutive slots in which transmissions (e.g., transport blocks (TBs))are sent (e.g., on the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and/orreceived (e.g., on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)).Transmissions in the aggregated slots may include repeated TBs (e.g.,repetitions associated with a same hybrid automatic repeat request(HARQ) process) or different TBs (e.g., non-repeated and associated withdifferent HARQ processes).

FIGS. 7-9 show examples of slot aggregation. Although FIGS. 7-9illustrates slots aggregation for reception of downlink data (e.g.,PDSCH), one will understand how similar slot aggregation configurationswould apply for transmission of uplink data (e.g., PUSCH). For example,while the FIGS. 7-9 show downlink control information (DCI) overlappinga scheduled slot, in the case of uplink (e.g., PUSCH) the DCI may be betransmitted in an earlier slot than the slot scheduled for ULtransmission. Further, in the case UL, the user equipment (UE) may notsend the HARQ-ACK.

As shown the slot aggregation example in FIG. 7, a single downlink linkinformation (DCI) transmission (e.g., a single grant) may be received ina slot. For example, the DCI may be received in a control region of theslot, such as the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The DCI canschedule repetitions of a TB (e.g., HARQ_ID 0) in multiple consecutiveslots. An acknowledgment (ACK) may be sent after the last scheduledrepetition to acknowledge whether the TB was successfully received.

As shown in FIG. 8, in another example of slot aggregation, a single DCI(e.g., a single grant) in a slot is used for multi-grant scheduling. Forexample, the DCI can schedule multiple different TBs (e.g., non-repeatedand associated with the different HARQ process numbers) in multiple(e.g., consecutive) slots. A single ACK may be sent for all of themultiple TBs. The ACK may acknowledge whether each of the different TBswas successfully received. The DCI may also schedule the HARQ ACKprocess for each of the different TBs.

As shown in FIG. 9, in yet another example of slot aggregation, multipleDCI may be sent/received in a slot. For example, the multiple DCI may befrequency division multiplexed (FDMed) in the slot. The multiple DCI maybe for dynamic HARQ scheduling. For example, the multiple DCI canschedule multiple TBs (e.g., non-repeated and associated with thedifferent HARQ process numbers) in multiple (e.g., consecutive) slots.Each of the multiple DCI may schedule a TB for a different slot. Asingle ACK may be sent for all of the multiple TBs. The single ACK mayacknowledge whether each of the different TBs was successfully received.Although not shown in FIG. 9, in some examples, the multiple DCI canschedule some slots with repetitions of a TB and some slots withdifferent TBs.

Precoded demodulation reference signals (DMRS) may betransmitted/received in the aggregated slots with the TBs. For example,on the uplink the UE may transmit precoded DMRS to the BS, and on thedownlink the UE may receive precoded DMRS from the BS. In the case ofslot-aggregation with multiple consecutive downlink data transmissions,the BS may transmit, and the UE receives, DMRS in each of the aggregatedslots. For any frequency allocation, if phase continuity can beguaranteed at the base station (e.g., a gNB) and the DMRS acrossmultiple aggregated slots utilize the same precoder in time, then theDMRS for the aggregated slots can be coherently processed. In otherwords, depending on whether DMRS across aggregated-slots arephase-continuous (and follow the same precoder) or not phase-continuous,the UE may apply different optimal channel estimation schemes. Thus, itis desirable for the BS, in the case of slot-aggregation, to indicatewhether the UE can assume phase-continuous, and same-precoding, DMRSacross multiple slots or whether the UE cannot used phase-continuousDMRS across the slots.

Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques andapparatus for signaling slot aggregation. For example, techniques areprovides for configuring/signaling the aggregated slots, whether TBstransmitted in the slots are repetitions or different TBs, whether DRMSin the slots are phase-continuous, and/or parameters associated with theaggregated slots such as modulation coding scheme (MCS), redundancyversion (RV), resource allocation (RA), new data indicator (NDI),acknowledgment resource indicator (ARI), etc. Aspects provide radioresource control (RRC) signaling to semi-statically configure a UE withthe slots aggregation configuration and/or DCI to dynamically configureor reconfigure the slot aggregation. In some examples, the signaling theUL slots aggregation and DL slot aggregation may be separate (e.g.,based on link budgets, peaks, overhead, etc.).

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1000 forwireless communications, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations 1000 may be performed by a UE (e.g.,such as one of the UEs 120 illustrated in the wireless communicationnetwork 100 in FIG. 1). Operations 1000 may be implemented as softwarecomponents that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g.,processor 480 of FIG. 4). Further, the transmission and reception ofsignals by the UE in operations 1000 may be enabled, for example, by oneor more antennas (e.g., antennas 452 of FIG. 4). In certain aspects, thetransmission and/or reception of signals by the UE may be implementedvia a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., processor 480)obtaining and/or outputting signals.

The operations 1000 may begin, at 1105, by receiving RRC signalingproviding the UE with a semi-static configuration. The semi-staticconfiguration configures the UE to transmit or receive TBs in theplurality of aggregated slots. The semi-static configuration mayconfigure the UE to transmit or receive repetitions of the TB, differentTBs, and/or a combination of repeated and non-repeated TBs. Thesemi-static configuration may configure slot aggregation parameters(e.g., values for the parameters), such as the RA, MCS, NDI, RV, ARI fora bundled ACK, and/or other parameters for transmission or reception ofthe TBs in the aggregated slots. In some examples, the semi-staticconfiguration configures a same RA, MCS, NDI, RV, and/or ARI fortransmission of different TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots.

At 1010, the UE transmits or receives the TBs in the plurality ofaggregated slots based on (e.g., in accordance with) the semi-staticconfiguration.

The UE may receive a DCI scheduling the UE to transmit or receiverepetitions of a TB in aggregated slots. The repetitions of the TB maybe associated with a bundled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).The UE may receive a DCI scheduling the UE to transmit or receivedifferent TBs in the aggregated slots. The UE may receive or transmit asingle ACK bit indicating whether the TBs in the plurality of aggregatedslots were successfully received. In some examples, a DCI maydynamically configure (e.g., reconfigure or override) one or more of thesemi-static RRC configured aggregation parameters.

FIG. 10A is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1000A by theUE for uplink slot aggregation, in accordance with certain aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations 1000A may begin, at 1005A, byreceiving RRC signaling providing the UE with a semi-staticconfiguration for transmission of a repeated and/or different TB in eachof the plurality of aggregated slots. At 1010A, the UE transmits therepeated and/or different TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots basedon the semi-static configuration.

FIG. 10B is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1000A fordownlink slot aggregation, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations 1000B may begin, at 1005B, byreceiving RRC signaling providing the UE with a semi-staticconfiguration for reception of a repeated and/or different TB in each ofthe plurality of aggregated slots. At 1010B, the UE receives therepeated and/or different TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots basedon the semi-static configuration.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1100 forwireless communications, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations 1100 may be performed by the UE. Theoperations 1100 may begin, at 1105, by receiving a DMRS in each of aplurality of aggregated slots. Each DMRS is associated with a repeatedTB or a different TB in the slot.

At 1110, the UE determines, based on received signaling, whether theDMRS use a same precoder or a different precoder. In some examples, theUE receives RRC or DCI signaling. The RRC or DCI signaling mayexplicitly or implicitly indicate the DMRS are phase-continuous in timeacross the aggregated slots (e.g., the DMRS use the same precodingacross the aggregated slots). The RRC or DCI signaling may indicate forthe UE to assume the DMRS uses the same precoder if DMRS is received inconsecutive downlink slots. For any resource block (RB) in frequency,the precoder used in consecutive aggregated slots may be the same ordifferent.

At 1115, the UE demodulates the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slotsbased on the determination. For example, if the UE determines that theDMRS do not use the same precoder, then the UE may demodulate a TB in aslot based only on the DMRS received in that slot. On the other hand, ifthe UE determines that the DMRS use the same precoding, then the UE maydemodulate a TB in a slot based on all of (or multiple) the DMRS in theaggregated slots (e.g., using coherent combining). The DMRS may be usedfor channel estimation.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1200 forwireless communications, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations 1200 may be performed by the UE. Theoperations 1200 may begin, at 1205, by determining, based on receivedsignaling, whether DMRS in a plurality of aggregated slots use a same ordifferent precoder. At 1210, the UE modulates TBs associated with theDMRS in the plurality of aggregated slots based on the determination.And at 1215, the UE transmits the modulated TBs and associated DMRS ineach of the plurality of aggregated slots.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1300 forwireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations 1300 may be performed by a BS (e.g.,such as a BS 110 in the wireless communication network 100 illustratedin FIG. 1, which may be a gNB). The operations 1300 may be complementaryto the operations 1000, 1000A, and/or 1000B performed by the UE.Operations 1300 may be implemented as software components that areexecuted and run on one or more processors (e.g., processor 440 of FIG.4). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the BS inoperations 1300 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas(e.g., antennas 434 of FIG. 4). In certain aspects, the transmissionand/or reception of signals by the BS may be implemented via a businterface of one or more processors (e.g., processor 440) obtainingand/or outputting signals.

The operations 1300 may begin, at 1305, by transmitting RRC signalingproviding a UE with a semi-static configuration for transmission orreception of a repeated TB and/or a different TB in each of a pluralityof aggregated slots. At 1310, the BS transmits or receives the TBs inthe plurality of aggregated slots based on the semi-staticconfiguration.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1400 forwireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations 1400 may be performed by a BS. Theoperations 1400 may be complementary operations by the BS to theoperations 1100 performed by the UE. The operations 1400 may begin, at1405, by transmitting signaling indicating whether DMRS in a pluralityof aggregated slots use a same precoder or different precoders. At 1410,the BS precodes the DMRS using the same precoder or different precoders,based on the indication. At 1415, the BS transmits a precoded DMRS ineach of the plurality of aggregated slots. Each DMRS is associated witha repeated TB or a different TB in the slot.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 1500 forwireless communication, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. The operations 1500 may be performed by a BS. Theoperations 1500 may be complementary operations by the BS to theoperations 1200 performed by the UE. The operations 1500 may begin, at1505, by transmitting signaling indicating whether DMRS in a pluralityof aggregated slots use a same or different precoder. At 1510, the BSreceives DMRS in each of the plurality of aggregated slots, each DMRSassociated with a same and/or different TB in the slot. And at 1515, theBS demodulates the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on thedetermination.

Example Signaling for Multi-TB Slot Aggregation

In some cases, RRC signaling is used to configure whether there is TBrepetition across multiple slots (uplink or downlink). For example,repetitions may be associated with a bundled PDSCH. The gNB can transmitDCI to schedule the UE for the repetitions. Repetition may be useful forRank-1 scenarios, where multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)transmission is not used (e.g., in the case of a poor channel).

In some cases, repetition is not configured and different TBs arescheduled in the aggregated slots. Using a DCI to schedule the differentTBs may require large DCI overhead. According to certain aspects, RRCsignaling may be used to semi-statically configure parameters of slotaggregation, which may reduce DCI overhead.

In some examples (referred to herein as Case 0), multiple DCI can beused for multi-TB slot aggregation. The DCIs may have different KOvalues (e.g., the HARQ value for the gap between the downlink grant andthe downlink data transmission). The DCIs may be sent in the controlregion (e.g., the PDCCH) of a single slot (e.g., FDMed) as shown in FIG.9. The DCIs may be sent in a first slot and then DCI may not bescheduled/sent in the subsequent aggregated slots. The number of DCIsmay be restricted to fit among blind decoding candidates that the UE isable to monitor (e.g., configured to monitor).

According to certain aspects, in some examples (referred to herein asCase 1), RRC signaling is used to semi-statically configure parametersof the slot aggregation. The RRC signaling may be UE-specific. The RRCsignaling may be transmitted in a higher layer RRC message. The RRCsignaling may be transmitted once the UE is in connected mode.Semi-statically configuring the slot aggregation in RRC may allow asingle DCI to be used to schedule multi-TB slot aggregation. The RRCsignaling may indicate to the UE to monitor for a particular type of DCIformat implicitly indicating the slot aggregation is used. Or the RRCcould explicitly indicate slot aggregation.

RRC aggregation parameters may be reused, but with new values for toindicate the case of non-repetition aggregation (i.e., multipledifferent TBs). The same resource allocation may be repeated (e.g., intime and frequency). Different TBs are scheduled per slot. The RRCsignaling may indicate whether the same or different MCS, NDI, and/or RVis configured across the aggregated slots. The RRC signaling mayconfigure whether a single ARI is used for an ACK bundled (e.g.,implicitly) across the TBs in the aggregated slots.

Rules may be applied for numbering (e.g., indexing) and semi-staticdownlink/uplink handling (i.e., the slot structure). In an illustrativeexample, the UE may be configured/indicated an 8 slot aggregation;however, based on the cell configurations, the UE may know that some ofthe slots are configured for uplink. Thus, the UE may be configured witha rule for handling the indexing of the TBs and handling of the slotaggregation with conflicting slot directions. Indexing may define whichbit in ACK feedback corresponds to which TB.

In some examples (referred to herein as Case 2), a new DCI format may beused for multi-TB aggregation. The new DCI format may be large in sizeto schedule multiple TBs.

According to certain aspects, subsequent DCI transmissions maydynamically configure aggregation parameters and/or may reconfigure oroverride one or more of the semi-statically configured parameters.

Example Signaling for DMRS Phase Continuity in Aggregated Slots

According to certain aspects, RRC signaling (e.g., separate from theabove RRC signaling for the aggregation parameters) can be used toconfigure/indicate whether the DMRS across the uplink and/or downlinkaggregated slots are phase continuous or phase discontinuous. In somecases, the indication is provided in DCI. In some cases, the indicationprovided in DCI may reconfigure or override a previous indication in RRCsignaling. Parameter setting may depend on whether slots are scheduledas aggregated, but allows network to precoder cycle. This can apply tocase of different TBs or case of TB repetitions. The signaling may bedifferent/separate for UL and DL.

For the Case 0, described above, the UE may be signaled or configured toknow whether to assume DMRS phase continuity. According to certainaspects, the indication may be an explicit indication to the UE ofwhether to assume DMRS phase continuity (and coherent combining). Insome examples, the indication may configure the UE to assume phasecontinuous DMRS if repetition is along contiguous DL slots. Thecontiguous DL slots may include downlink slots or {DL,X} from thesubframe indication (e.g., the SFI) (if signaled). The X slots may referto slots that have an unknown direction or that are reserved. In someexamples, the signaling may configure the UE to assume phase continuousDMRS for repetition along contiguous UL slots.

For the Case 1 and/or the Case 2, described above, DMRS phase continuitymay be implicit from the RRC/DCI signaling configuring the aggregatedslots for different TBs. For example, the RRC signaling may configurethe UE to monitor for a particular type of DCI and to assume DMRS phasecontinuity if the type of DCI is detected.

According to certain aspects, certain slot aggregation parameters or UEbehavior for assuming DMRS phase continuity may be specified in thewireless standards.

Example HARQ for Multi-TB Slot Aggregation

In some examples, multi-TB slot aggregation may reuse HARQ timingfollowing distributed N1 or may use a new HARQ timeline.

In certain systems, such as NR, UE processing time capability forslot-based scheduling, including CA case with no cross-carrierscheduling (in some cases, the processing times may also be supportedfor cross-carrier scheduling), and with single numerology for PDCCH,PDSCH, and PUSCH and no UCI multiplexing, is shown in the Table 1600 inFIG. 16. The Table 1700 in FIG. 17 shows the UE processing timecapability for a UE supporting a more aggressive processing timecapability. Each of the minimum (K1, K2) is based on assumptions of arespective UE turn-around times (N1, N2), where K1 is the delay betweenDL data reception and the corresponding UL ACK transmission; K2 is thedelay between reception of the UL grant in the DL and the correspondingUL data transmission; N1 is the number of OFDM symbols for UE processingfrom the end of PDSCH reception to the earliest possible start of thecorresponding ACK/NACK transmission from UE perspective; and N2 is thenumber of OFDM symbols for UE processing from the end of PDCCHcontaining the UL grant reception to the earliest possible start of thecorresponding PUSCH transmission from UE perspective. For a givenconfiguration and numerology, a UE indicates only one capability for N1and N2 based on corresponding entry for N1 and N2 from either Table 1600or 1700.

FIG. 18 illustrates a communications device 1800 that may includevarious components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-functioncomponents) configured to perform operations for the techniquesdisclosed herein, such as the operations illustrated in FIG. 10, FIG.11, and/or FIG. 12. The communications device 1800 includes a processingsystem 1802 coupled to a transceiver 1808. The transceiver 1808 isconfigured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device1800 via an antenna 1810, such as the various signals as describedherein. The processing system 1802 may be configured to performprocessing functions for the communications device 1800, includingprocessing signals received and/or to be transmitted by thecommunications device 1800.

The processing system 1802 includes a processor 1804 coupled to acomputer-readable medium/memory 1812 via a bus 1806. In certain aspects,the computer-readable medium/memory 1812 is configured to storeinstructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that when executed by theprocessor 1804, cause the processor 1804 to perform the operationsillustrated in FIG. 10, FIG. 11, and/or FIG. 12, or other operations forperforming the various techniques discussed herein for slot aggregationsignaling. In certain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory 1812stores code 1814 for receiving RC signaling providing the UE with asemi-static configuration for transmission or reception of a repeatedand/or a different TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots; code1816 for transmitting or receiving the TBs in the plurality ofaggregated slots based on the semi-static configuration; code 1818 fortransmitting and/or receiving a DMRS in each of a plurality ofaggregated slots, each DMRS associated with a repeated or different TBin the slot; code 1820 for determining, based on received signaling,whether the DMRS use a same precoder or a different precoder; and/orcode 1822 for modulating and/or demodulating the TBs in the plurality ofaggregated slots based on the determination. In certain aspects, theprocessor 1804 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored inthe computer-readable medium/memory 1812. The processor 1804 includescircuitry 1824 for receiving RC signaling providing the UE with asemi-static configuration for transmission or reception of a repeatedand/or a different TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots;circuitry 1826 for transmitting or receiving the TBs in the plurality ofaggregated slots based on the semi-static configuration; circuitry 1828for transmitting and/or receiving a DMRS in each of a plurality ofaggregated slots, each DMRS associated with a repeated or different TBin the slot; circuitry 1830 for determining, based on receivedsignaling, whether the DMRS use a same precoder or a different precoder;and/or circuitry 1832 for modulating and/or demodulating the TBs in theplurality of aggregated slots based on the determination.

FIG. 19 illustrates a communications device 1900 that may includevarious components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-functioncomponents) configured to perform operations for the techniquesdisclosed herein, such as the operations illustrated in FIG. 13, FIG.14, and/or FIG. 15. The communications device 1900 includes a processingsystem 1902 coupled to a transceiver 1908. The transceiver 1908 isconfigured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device1900 via an antenna 1910, such as the various signals as describedherein. The processing system 1902 may be configured to performprocessing functions for the communications device 1900, includingprocessing signals received and/or to be transmitted by thecommunications device 1900.

The processing system 1902 includes a processor 1904 coupled to acomputer-readable medium/memory 1912 via a bus 1906. In certain aspects,the computer-readable medium/memory 1912 is configured to storeinstructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that when executed by theprocessor 1904, cause the processor 1904 to perform the operationsillustrated in FIG. 13, FIG. 14, and/or FIG. 15, or other operations forperforming the various techniques discussed herein for slot aggregationsignaling. In certain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory 1912stores code 1914 for transmitting RRC signaling providing a UE with asemi-static configuration for transmission or reception of a repeated TBand/or a different TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots; code1916 for transmitting or receiving the TBs in the plurality ofaggregated slots based on the semi-static configuration; code 1918 fortransmitting signaling indicating whether DMRS in a plurality ofaggregated slots use a same precoder or different precoders; code 1920for precoding the DMRS using the same precoder or different precoders,based on the indication; and/or code 1922 for transmitting and/orreceiving a precoded DMRS in each of the plurality of aggregated slots.Each DMRS is associated with a repeated TB or a different TB in theslot. In certain aspects, the processor 1904 has circuitry configured toimplement the code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1912.The processor 1904 includes circuitry 1924 for transmitting RRCsignaling providing a UE with a semi-static configuration fortransmission or reception of a repeated TB and/or a different TB in eachof a plurality of aggregated slots; circuitry 1926 for transmitting orreceiving the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on thesemi-static configuration; circuitry 1928 for transmitting signalingindicating whether DMRS in a plurality of aggregated slots use a sameprecoder or different precoders; circuitry 1930 for precoding the DMRSusing the same precoder or different precoders, based on the indication;and/or circuitry 1932 for transmitting and/or receiving a precoded DMRSin each of the plurality of aggregated slots. Each DMRS is associatedwith a repeated TB or a different TB in the slot.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions forachieving the methods. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions isspecified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may bemodified without departing from the scope of the claims.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c,a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples ofthe same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b,b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects describedthroughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known tothose of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein byreference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover,nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in theclaims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase“means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recitedusing the phrase “step for.”

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions.The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s)and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally,where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations mayhave corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components withsimilar numbering.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits describedin connection with the present disclosure may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD),discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration maycomprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing systemmay be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system and the overall design constraints.The bus may link together various circuits including a processor,machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may beused to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processingsystem via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement thesignal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a userterminal 120 (see FIG. 1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display,mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus mayalso link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals,voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which arewell known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/orspecial-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors,microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can executesoftware. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implementthe described functionality for the processing system depending on theparticular application and the overall design constraints imposed on theoverall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmittedover as one or more instructions or code on a computer readable medium.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or anycombination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.Computer-readable media include both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. The processor may beresponsible for managing the bus and general processing, including theexecution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storagemedia. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processorsuch that the processor can read information from, and write informationto, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable mediamay include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data,and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions storedthereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed bythe processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition,the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integratedinto the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or generalregister files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include,by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (ReadOnly Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, opticaldisks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or anycombination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in acomputer-program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media.The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules.The software modules include instructions that, when executed by anapparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to performvarious functions. The software modules may include a transmissionmodule and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in asingle storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices.By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a harddrive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the softwaremodule, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache toincrease access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into ageneral register file for execution by the processor. When referring tothe functionality of a software module below, it will be understood thatsuch functionality is implemented by the processor when executinginstructions from that software module.

Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Forexample, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or otherremote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared(IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, andmicrowave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, asused herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media maycomprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media).In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprisetransitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product forperforming the operations presented herein. For example, such a computerprogram product may comprise a computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions beingexecutable by one or more processors to perform the operations describedherein for slot aggregation signaling.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriatemeans for performing the methods and techniques described herein can bedownloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or basestation as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to aserver to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methodsdescribed herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can beprovided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage mediumsuch as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a userterminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods uponcoupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, anyother suitable technique for providing the methods and techniquesdescribed herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the preciseconfiguration and components illustrated above. Various modifications,changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the methods and apparatus described above without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling providing the UE with a semi-static configuration for transmission or reception of at least one of: a repeated transport block (TB) or a different TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots; and transmitting or receiving the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on the semi-static configuration.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a downlink control information (DCI) transmission scheduling the UE to transmit or receive repetitions of a TB, associated with a same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, in the plurality of aggregated slots.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the repetitions of the TB in the plurality of aggregated slots are associated with a bundled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a downlink control information (DCI) transmission scheduling the UE to transmit or receive different TBs, associated with different hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes, in the plurality of aggregated slots.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving or transmitting a single acknowledgement bit indicating whether the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots were successfully received.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the semi-static configuration comprises at least one of: a resource allocation (RA), a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a new data indicator (NDI), a redundancy version (RV), or an acknowledgment resource indicator (ARI) for a bundled ACK, associated with transmission of the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of: a same RA, same MCS, same NDI, same RV, or same ARI is configured for transmission of different TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving downlink control information (DCI) providing a dynamic configuration for transmission or reception of the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots, wherein the dynamic configuration is different than the semi-static configuration.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling comprises separate signaling for uplink and downlink slot aggregation.
 10. A method of wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in each of a plurality of aggregated slots, each DMRS associated with a repeated transport block (TB) or a different TB in the slot; determining, based on received signaling, whether the DMRS use a same precoder or a different precoder; and demodulating the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on the determination.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the received signaling comprises at least one of: radio resource control (RRC) signaling or downlink control information (DCI).
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the received signaling explicitly indicates the DMRS uses the same precoder.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the indication implicitly indicates the DMRS uses the same precoder based on a type of the DCI.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the received signaling indicates for the UE to assume the DMRS uses the same precoder if DMRS is received in consecutive downlink slots.
 15. A method of wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining, based on received signaling, whether demodulation reference signals (DMRS) in a plurality of aggregated slots use a same or different precoder; modulating transport blocks (TBs) associated with the DMRS in the plurality of aggregated slots based on the determination; and transmitting the modulated TBs and associated DMRS in each of the plurality of aggregated slots.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the received signaling comprises at least one of: radio resource control (RRC) signaling or downlink control information (DCI).
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the received signaling explicitly indicates the DMRS uses the same precoder.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the indication implicitly indicates the DMRS uses the same precoder based on a type of the DCI.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the received signaling indicates for the UE to assume the DMRS uses the same precoder if DMRS is transmitted in consecutive downlink slots.
 20. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising: means for receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling providing the apparatus with a semi-static configuration for transmission or reception of at least one of: a repeated transport block (TB) or a different TB in each of a plurality of aggregated slots; and transmitting or receiving the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots based on the semi-static configuration.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for receiving a downlink control information (DCI) transmission scheduling the apparatus to transmit or receive repetitions of a TB, associated with a same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, in the plurality of aggregated slots.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the repetitions of the TB in the plurality of aggregated slots are associated with a bundled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).
 23. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for receiving a downlink control information (DCI) transmission scheduling the apparatus to transmit or receive different TBs, associated with different hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes, in the plurality of aggregated slots.
 24. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for receiving or transmitting a single acknowledgement bit indicating whether the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots were successfully received.
 25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the semi-static configuration comprises at least one of: a resource allocation (RA), a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a new data indicator (NDI), a redundancy version (RV), or an acknowledgment resource indicator (ARI) for a bundled ACK, associated with transmission of the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein at least one of: a same RA, same MCS, same NDI, same RV, or same ARI is configured for transmission of different TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots.
 27. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising means for receiving downlink control information (DCI) providing a dynamic configuration for transmission or reception of the TBs in the plurality of aggregated slots, wherein the dynamic configuration is different than the semi-static configuration. 